


Luthany

by lily_winterwood



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Inspired by Chinese myth, Inspired by Poetry, Inspired by the Lay of Leithian, Inspired by the tale of the Cowherd and the Weaver, M/M, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-19
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 07:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lily_winterwood/pseuds/lily_winterwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>For immortal are the princes true<br/>Of Luthany and the realms beyond<br/>But Prince Sherlock had always known<br/>To mortal’s love he would be bound.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luthany

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Lay of Leithian](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/9983) by JRR Tolkien. 



In times of old, when grass was green  
And sky was still unblemished blue  
The Prince of Luthany was hid  
In halls of gold and diamonds true.

He chafed his bonds of silk and gold  
And longed to breathe the fresh clean air  
Yet when he left the palace walls  
He found John Watson standing there.

For John was mortal, kind, and brave  
But tiring journeys harden hearts  
And fighting foes in far-off lands  
Had torn his dreams at night apart

A wanderer thus, seeking refuge  
From memories of his battle days  
Did John come o’er mountains tall  
And rested by the bank to stay.

Presently came the dark-haired prince  
Whose brows were alabaster white  
His eyes were like a stormy sea  
And shone with age and hidden light.

John’s breath came short; his mouth was dry  
Never saw he a sight so fair  
The prince looked back with thund’ring heart  
And realised doom was written there

For immortal are the princes true  
Of Luthany and the realms beyond  
But Prince Sherlock had always known  
To mortal’s love he would be bound.

Cursed to live while his love dies  
And wander the woods alone in grief  
A concept Sherlock did despise  
And sought to make this meeting brief

He fled, light footfalls on the grass  
In the pursuit of better game  
Best to forget the mortal’s eyes  
Than be caught up at his name.

But John gave chase, for he would not  
Allow such wonders stray from sight  
So he pursued the fleeing prince  
Till he came to a grove of light

Within this clearing Sherlock stood  
And watched John close the distance there  
His gaze sought truth within John’s eyes  
And discovered tragedy laid bare

“You come afar, to Luthany  
Seeking shelter from your plight  
For goblins slew your comrades fair  
And cast you wand’ring in your flight.

I see your shoulder bears a wound  
A goblin’s arrow – wicked brutes!  
Your leg however is not hurt,  
Yet your limp seems pained and true.”

“How did you see from such a glance?”  
John asked with wonder in his eyes.  
“There must be magic in your gaze  
For you spoke not a single lie.”

“Long have I observed the world,  
Deduced the hearts of all my kin.”  
Of his own fate the prince spoke not  
But sought to lose the man again.

The mortal John leapt forth, a cry  
came tumbling out in shaking voice.  
“Don’t leave me in the shadows now  
When of your light I now rejoice!

“O Prince of Light! Of brilliant thought!  
Of scarlet threads and silver eyes!  
Long have you sat under the boughs  
To never stray from bonds and lies!”

Fleet-footed was the dark-haired prince  
Yet he still paused to hear the words.  
Enchantment washed over anew;  
John caught him like a fragile bird.

Within John’s arms did Sherlock rest  
And with a lurch of heart realised  
It was too late; red string was drawn  
His fate was ev’dent in his eyes.

And so they travelled through the lands  
Adventured, solved crimes far and wide  
Though oft the thought of death would creep  
But John ne’er left his Sherlock’s side.

Until the bitterest of ends  
Upon a roaring waterfall  
The two were sundered, water-torn  
To opp’site banks they could not call.

A lifetime passed, and thousands more  
Before the two would meet again  
Upon a swallow-heaven bridge  
And talk what might or could have been.

For death found John an easy friend,  
but Sherlock’s fate bade him travail  
Yet now the halves were whole again  
Together now they will prevail.

**Author's Note:**

> This poem was very much inspired by JRR Tolkien's the Lay of Leithian, and if you know anything about the tale of Luthien and Beren you would have seen the parallels. And at the end, the separation echoes that of the Cowherd and the Weaver in Chinese mythology (although you could also say the Cowherd and the Weaver follows the same star-crossed lover story pattern seen in the Lay of Leithian).  
> Luthany was originally Tolkien's name for England.


End file.
